By Gloria Ikibah
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has handed over 50 tonnes of “Dates Fruits” donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation for onward distribution to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and victims of natural disasters across the country.
Speaking at the official presentation of the ‘dates fruits’, also known as ‘Dabino’ in Hausa language, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Adamu Lamuwa, expressed confidence that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, knows better, how to distribute the Items.
He said: “As a Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, you know where it pinches more, for us as a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have liaised with the Saudi Government, we received these cartoons of fifty tonnes of dates and this is a formal handing over. You see, we have delivered the message to you, and receive them with all gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.
The Permanent Secretary said that the relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been decades -long brotherly bond between the two nations.
He further noted that the donation was targeted towards Ramadan due to the significance of dates fruits to fasting but it was however delayed due to logistics challenges.
“They are distributing it, country by country, perhaps in alphabetical order. Before it reached Nigeria, the month of Ramadan ended. So we are just getting them like a month or some weeks after, but ideally we should have gotten this during Ramadan”, Lamuwa stated.
Receiving the humanitarian aid on behalf of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the Permanent Secretary to the ministry, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan assured that they would ensure that it reaches the intended beneficiaries.
“On behalf of the management and staff of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, we thank the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and the entire management and staff for this gesture, for being the link for this particular item to be delivered to the Ministry for onward distribution to the needies, in the camps and outside the camps.
“We assure you that we’ll do the needful. We’ll make sure that the distribution is properly done. And the intended beneficiaries actually have these items given to them. We will not disappoint,” Eniyan assured.
Earlier on Friday, the donation was presented by the Saudi ambassador to Nigeria, Faisal Alghamdi and was received by the Deputy Director of the Middle East and Gulf Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Murtala Jimoh, on behalf of the Nigerian government.
According to Alghamdi, the Government of Saudi Arabia, through King Salman’s Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief), has provided necessary humanitarian assistance to Nigeria in different sectors of the economy.
The ambassador said it was part of the country’s continued commitment to alleviate the sufferings of people in distress.